Ocean Born
by IntoTheWilds
Summary: ONE-SHOT: On a holiday in California, Derek finds something that leaves him questioning everything...AU FIC


**_DISCLAIMER:_**_ I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters!_

**_AUTHOR'S NOTE:_**_ This came about through a muddled dream, courtesy of too much chocolate and late night Criminal Minds marathon. A baaaad combination just before bed! Anywho, please don't cyber slap me. As I've often said, where the plot bunnies go, I shall follow and they just went weird with my subconscious sooooo I just had to write this haha Enjoy my flowers!_

_IntoTheWilds_

_xxxxx_

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_The sea is emotion incarnate. It loves, hates, and weeps. It defies all attempts to capture it with words and rejects all shackles. No matter what you say about it, there is always that which you can't." __  
**― **_**_Christopher Paolini_**

* * *

It was beautiful, but of course it was California and it tended to be beautiful. The sun shimmered down in warm yellow rays and a dark skinned man wandered along the beach, his dog trotting happily at his side. SSA Derek Morgan of the BAU was enjoying a much needed rest. After a particularly harrowing case he was subtly requested to take three weeks. Amazing how the request sounded more like, _'take a break or so help me!'_ while a vein pulsed in Hotch's forehead. Though it irked him at the time, Derek later found it rather amusing.

The beach was pretty much vacant for that time of the morning. It also could be because of the sudden storm that hit the night before—bloody weird climate surges! Thank you Global warming!—the beach was a mess of debris, and even now the waves thrashed angrily almost snarling at the sandy bank, their fury still looming in the air. Save for the odd seagull and the typical sound of nature, the place was practically silent. It was nice. Suddenly Clooney's ears pricked and the Rottweiler let out a distressed whine. Before Derek could react his dog took off at a sprint, large paws beating against the luscious white sand.

"Cloon," he barked darting after him, cursing to himself. He shouldn't have let him off the lead! "Clooney, stop, get back here!"

But Clooney was not listening. His brown eyes were locked firmly on a lump of driftwood, a mess of seaweed and an assortment of crap. Stopping by the lump, the damp waves crashing against it every so often, the canine snuffled about it, yipping and whining. The waves thrashed angrily against them, but Clooney ignored it and lifting his head he barked, urging his master to move faster. Derek picked up the pace, a frown knitting his brows, only to freeze momentarily in shock when his eyes fell upon a body.

"Shit!" Derek cursed closing the distance. The kid was covered in sea rubbish, his face and some of his upper half the only parts visible. He had lengthy brunette hair, the thick coils matted with sand and seaweed. Bruises littered his creamy skin and by a miracle he was still breathing, his chest much too thin for Derek's tastes.

On his wrists Derek saw bracelets made of coral and tiny sea shells. With small pendants that had runes of some sort as well as what looked to be Egyptian styled golden arm bands, each covered with patterns that Derek couldn't really make out. Crouching, Derek began pulling away the mess, careful just in case the boy was badly injured. The debris piled up beside him and reaching down for a large piece of wood, Derek got the shock of his life when he moved it aside. For a minute the FBI agent wondered if he were dreaming. He lifted his hands scrubbing at his eyes and looked again, but the scene hadn't changed. The boy's creamy upper half tapered off to a long colourful fish tail! The kid was a real life merman!

If he had had legs, the kid would've been tall. Six foot at least. His tail was by far the most beautiful thing Derek had ever seen. It was a mix of oranges, gold and bronze, with splashes of black webbed through. A pulsing wave splashed over the boy every few seconds and it was only then Morgan noticed the blood tingeing the water and staining the sand beneath him. Somewhat reluctantly he reached down and after some hesitation he touched the merman's tail. To his surprise it wasn't scaled like it appeared to be. In fact the flesh was silken smooth and warm against Derek's searching fingers. Shifting the tail from the water and moving it gently Morgan realised the boy had gotten hit with something that had left a horrendous gash starting from his hip, moving down over the right side of his tail. Clooney continued to nuzzle the still form, looking up at Derek with such imploring eyes that with a groan, the agent removed his long jacket and wrapped the boy up as best he could, while concealing as much of his tail as possible.

He had a feeling he was opening up a can of worms he really shouldn't get involved in, but nor could he in good conscious leave him there to die or for some money grubbing assholes to pick him up. Clooney trotted alongside him, tongue lolling and yipping, completely pleased with himself. The merman, or merboy as it were, because he looked a great deal younger than him, weighed practically nothing and he was stunningly beautiful, even Derek who had only love for the ladies could see that. He was also much too thin, almost frail and on closer inspection he saw his tail and patches of his skin looked as if they had some sort of rash. There were nicks healing here and there on his silvery and black fin.

What had the kid been through? He was a mess! And Derek doubted it was all to do with the storm. The fin, he put down to fish hooks; healing marks on the bottom of his tail he blamed traps and the rash? Pollution for sure, it left him disgusted. Thankfully the beach house he was renting for the three weeks wasn't far. Awkwardly he got the door opened and stepped into the cooler shade. Clooney bolted past him, making a beeline for his water dish and heading for his bedroom down the hall, Derek laid the merboy out on his bed, removing his coat.

He scratched his head briefly wondering, _what next?_ He didn't exactly have experience with this sort of thing and he couldn't call anyone either. Oh Hotch would what his head examined, JJ, Emily and Rossi would laugh themselves stupid and Garcia would squeal in delight at the very idea of it, but still be of no use to him. Hell merpeople shouldn't even exist! And yet here he was, a real life one sprawled across his bed, with his tail slowly transforming into—_wait, what?!_ Startled Derek moved closer and sure enough where the boy's tail had begun to dry, patches of creamy skin appeared. Well hell, at least some of the legends were true.

Rummaging in his drawer Derek pulled out a t-shirt and the smallest pair of sweats he had. Getting a towel and the first aid kit from the bathroom, he took a seat beside the kid and carefully he dried the boy and with the water fading, legs began to appear, as well as other anatomy. At the sight of the kid's flaccid sex, the agent couldn't help but blush. Removing things from the small box, he began cleaning up the kids tail—well now leg. Completely out of it, the boy never so much as flinched. Rooting around he found ointment to put over the damaged skin and once his injuries were treated, Derek carefully dressed him. Leaving him to sleep, Derek left the bedroom and went about his morning as normal. He still couldn't believe he had a merman in his room, wearing his clothing as if it were perfectly normal! It was just so bizarre that Derek shook his head in disbelief and laughed into his coffee mug.

* * *

-§-§-§-

* * *

The merman came to several hours later, jolting awake with a sharp gasp. His heart raced horribly and he was completely confused. How on earth had he ended up in a human dwelling? Sitting up slowly, he groaned audibly when the movement made his head spin and startled at the sight of a furry creature watching him from the corner. A dog isn't that what the humans called them? His side ached awfully. He remembered the ship and falling against something sharp when he tried to escape a fisherman's net. Then the storm had hit and everything after that was a blur. Moving the thick purple comforter he was covered with, the merman was left stunned. He was wearing some strange garment and his tail had been replaced with a pair of slender legs!

He knew of the rumours, but he hadn't actually thought it were possible. Lifting the t-shirt that had been put on him, he found his side was plastered with strange white material. It continued down most of his thigh and itched irritably, but he left it be. He wondered if he had appeared human when found and this was simply a kindly human tending to him.

Knowing his luck he highly doubted it.

Carefully he tried to remove himself from the soft thing he was laid upon. His newly acquired legs were stiff from disuse and didn't possess the same strength or flexibility that his tail did. By a miracle, however, he got himself vertical. It of course, didn't last very long and with a thud the boy ended up on his backside. Almost immediately the dog was upon him, snuffling over him as if seeking something. It took the boy a second to realise he was trying to comfort him. Noticing the piece of metal dangling from about the canine's throat, he reached for it. English was one of his languages, so he read it easily. **CLOONEY**, the name made him smile. It was an unusual name, but for a merman so was his own.

"Hello Clooney, my name is Spencer."

"That's a very human name."

Spencer startled head snapping up; his hazel eyes widened and fell upon a positively mammoth being, with dark skin and kind eyes. He was frightened, but he decided angering the imposing creature would be ill advisable, so he answered.

"My mother heard a human call her son that, she liked the name so much, she gave it to me when I was born."

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-one years."

Derek blinked in surprise. He would've said much younger, like sixteen, especially with his clothing drowning the kid's small frame. Not to mention he looked like a poster child for **CONCERN**, his sunken body evidence of starvation.

"What is your name?" Spencer asked struggling to his feet.

"Derek Morgan," the agent answered reaching out to help only for his efforts to be waved away.

"And how is it I came to be here Derek Morgan?"

"Derek is fine. I found you hurt on the beach and I brought you home to fix you up."

Spencer frowned, "Why? Clearly you know I'm not human."

Derek shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know why I helped you. It was just the right thing to do."

Spencer blinked thoroughly astonished. Humans were not something he often sought out. He had a lot to be angry at them for, but this one had gone to such trouble to help him. He couldn't help the smile that lit up his features. Maybe not all humans were bad.


End file.
